NEW YORK — Riley Nash and Zdeno Chara scored first-period goals and Patrice Bergeron added two in the second to help the surging Boston Bruins swamp the New York Rangers 6-1 on Wednesday night.
The Bruins won for the 18th time in their last 23 games, getting 21 saves from backup netminder Anton Khudobin. The Bruins (33-11-8) are just a point behind Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay.
Tim Schaller’s goal that made it 4-1 at 7:25 of the second period chased Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and brought boos from the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Lundqvist was replaced by Ondrej Pavelec.
The Rangers had won seven straight over the Bruins, including both meetings this season. But New York was no match for the Boston attack on Wednesday.
After Rick Nash gave the Rangers an early lead with his 16th goal five minutes into the first period, the Bruins began their relentless barrage. Riley Nash tied it with his eighth of the season at 7:54 with assists to David Backes and Danton Heinen.
Lundqvist initially stopped a shot by Backes. But the Bruins’ forward recovered his rebound, then sent the puck in front to Nash as Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo was caught out of position.
Chara, the 40-year-old defenseman playing his 20th NHL season, put Boston ahead at 16:09 of the first with his fifth goal of the season and the 193rd of his career.
The Bruins extended the lead to 3-1 at 3:47 of the second when Bergeron’s long shot from just inside the blue line skittered past Lundqvist after the goaltender seemed to make a pad save.
Schaller extended the lead with his eighth of the season before Bergeron scored his second of the game – this time short-handed – at the 10-minute mark. The goal was Bergeron’s team-leading 24th and came with assists to Chara and Brad Marchand, who returned after serving a five-game suspension for elbowing New Jersey’s Marcus Johansson.
Sean Kuraly completed the scoring for the Bruins with his fifth goal at 6:14 of the third.
Boston is 18-1-4 in its last 23 games and 27-4-4 in the last 35. The Bruins are 10-0-2 in their last 12 road games. They last lost an away game in regulation on Dec. 4 at Nashville.
The spiraling Rangers have lost four straight and seven of their last eight games. They are 3-10-0 since winning at Arizona on Jan. 6. The Rangers last missed the playoffs in 2010.
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